L. Gordon Cooper, who made history by orbiting Earth as a Mercury astronaut, is having trouble getting his airplane modification business off the ground in Lancaster. Cooper's landlord at Fox Field in Lancaster has posted an eviction notice at the office building and hangar where Cooper hopes to refit twin-engine propeller planes with more powerful turbine engines. Lancaster city officials are worried about the $300,000 they gave Cooper's company, Galaxy Group Inc.

Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Jr., one of the most colorful of the Mercury 7 astronauts, whose exploits and foibles were made famous in the book and movie "The Right Stuff," died Monday at his home in Ventura. He was 77. The cause of death was not announced, although friends said he had been in failing health in recent years. "As one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Gordon Cooper was one of the faces of America's fledgling space program," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.

L. Gordon Cooper has plenty of travel experience. So the Mercury astronaut-turned-businessman had no qualms about packing up his fledgling San Fernando Valley aviation business and heading for his home state of Oklahoma. Too many problems for business in California, he figured. On Thursday, the space pioneer made it official: His Galaxy Group Inc. is leaving Van Nuys.

L. Gordon Cooper, who made history by orbiting Earth as a Mercury astronaut, is having trouble getting his airplane modification business off the ground in Lancaster. Cooper's landlord at Fox Field in Lancaster has posted an eviction notice at the office building and hangar where Cooper hopes to refit twin-engine propeller planes with more powerful turbine engines. Lancaster city officials are worried about the $300,000 they gave Cooper's company, Galaxy Group Inc.

A famous astronaut-turned-businessman is joining the growing list of executives leaving California for cheaper space elsewhere. L. Gordon Cooper Jr., one of the original seven Mercury astronauts who pioneered the U.S. space program in the 1960s, now runs a Van Nuys company called Galaxy Group Inc., which is developing plans to retrofit commercial aircraft and to build a cargo plane of its own.

By the time he made it out to Edwards Air Force Base, the old watering hole called the Happy Bottom Riding Club was history. And he didn't see Chuck Yeager there either. And those weren't the only facts that Hollywood fooled around with. "My convertible was yellow," retired Air Force Col. Leroy G. Cooper Jr. says with a grin. "But the red looked good."

Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Jr., one of the most colorful of the Mercury 7 astronauts, whose exploits and foibles were made famous in the book and movie "The Right Stuff," died Monday at his home in Ventura. He was 77. The cause of death was not announced, although friends said he had been in failing health in recent years. "As one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Gordon Cooper was one of the faces of America's fledgling space program," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.

By the time he made it out to Edwards Air Force Base, the old watering hole called the Happy Bottom Riding Club was history. And he didn't see Chuck Yeager there either. And those weren't the only facts that Hollywood fooled around with. "My convertible was yellow," retired Air Force Col. Leroy G. Cooper Jr. says with a grin. "But the red looked good."

L. Gordon Cooper has plenty of travel experience. So the Mercury astronaut-turned-businessman had no qualms about packing up his fledgling San Fernando Valley aviation business and heading for his home state of Oklahoma. Too many problems for business in California, he figured. On Thursday, the space pioneer made it official: His Galaxy Group Inc. is leaving Van Nuys.

A famous astronaut-turned-businessman is joining the growing list of executives leaving California for cheaper space elsewhere. L. Gordon Cooper Jr., one of the original seven Mercury astronauts who pioneered the U.S. space program in the 1960s, now runs a Van Nuys company called Galaxy Group Inc., which is developing plans to retrofit commercial aircraft and to build a cargo plane of its own.